Back in Planet Express, our favorite crew (minus Fry of course) are still trying to comprehend what just happened. Less than twenty minutes ago, Fry had disappeared and in his place came a mysterious blonde boy named Willy Duwitt. Willy meanwhile is still is still in shock at having travelled forward in time instead of to his intended destination.

And with the professor's Photon Accelorator shut down and non-functional, there seems to be no possibility of putting things back to normal.

The crew and Willy are now seated in the Meeting Room around the table.

"I just can't believe Fry is gone!" said Leela. "Sucked into an alternate dimension."

"Well, not exactly 'sucked'," said Willy. "If your Photon Accelerator worked the way mine did, it opened up a rift in space and time in the form of a door that materialized out of thin air and he stepped through it into the Aniverse."

"The what?" asked Amy.

"Say again?" asked Leela.

"It's an alternate universe populated by humanoid animals. Rabbits, cats, toads, ducks, baboons, you name it. Not a single human anywhere. I was the first human to step into the Aniverse, if only by chance."

"Wow, you sure know a lot for a kid don't you?" asked Bender with an edge of sarcasm. He simply cannot fathom that a young boy could know so much. Then again, nobody else can.

"So what do we do now?" asked Leela. "With the Photon Accelerator offline, we can't just go into the Aniverse and find Fry."

"But why exactly did he turn on the machine anyway and enter the Aniverse?" asked Hermes.

"That's a very good question," said Farnsworth, the only cheerful person in the room. Fry's disappearance has done nothing to dampen his spirits. If anything, he's ecstatic at Fry's absence. "Unfortunately, I don't have one!"

"Then why are you so happy?" Amy points out.

"Because I'm in no hurry to bring him back," said Farnsworth. "Fry's performance as an assistant in the lab is absolute proof that he is the most incompetent employee I've ever had. Good riddance!"

"I miss Fry," said Zoidberg.

"I miss the meatbag too," said Bender.

"Things just won't ever be the same without Fry around," said Leela. "I guess you never really find out just how valuable someone until they're gone."

"Valuable?" Farnsworth scoffs. "Don't make me laugh!"

"What if we repaired the Photon Accelerator?" asked Willy. "I could help the professor do it!"

"What? You?" Bender laughs. "Fix a machine?"

"I once repaired my friends' Photon Accelerator," said Willy. "Perhaps I could help Farnsworth repair his."

"Here's a better idea," said Farnsworth. "Why don't you put your brain to even better use and be my new lab assistant! Who needs Fry anyway?"

"But how will I ever get home?" asked Willy.

"Pah! The twentieth century is so last millenium!" Farnsworth swats the air with a flick of his hand. "Welcome to the future kid!"

"Great," Fry grumbles to himself. "Just great. Stuck in an alternate dimension and taken hostage by a rabbit, a cat, a baboon, a duck, and a robot."

He is seated in the co-pilot seat of the Righteous Indignation. In the pilot seat next to him, Jenny has her grip on the flying controls. Outside the window, millions of stars twinkle in the galaxy ahead.

"Oh well," he mumbles to himself. "Think positive Fry. At least everyone is shorter than you are."

"Where are you creatures taking me?" he asked.

"Captain Bucky has ordered us to fly to the nearest planet to continue interrogotions," Jenny replies without turning her head. "Judging from our location, that would be planet Alderbaran, my homeworld."

"The interrogations for what?" Fry asked.

"Not what," said Jenny, "but for whom. You to be precise. We need to find out who exactly you are, why you are here, and where you come from."

"That makes sense," mutters Fry. He stares at Jenny, wondering exactly how many humanoid looking cats he had ever seen in his life. One time he had gone to a pet show where one human sized humanoid cat with a puppy sized human for a pet took third place. Back in the twentieth century, Fry never did have a soft spot for cats. Cats didn't really like him and were always hissing at him as if he were a dog. Maybe it was because he was more of a dog person than a cat person. How he missed Seymour Asses!

In fact, Jenny was the first cat, humanoid or not to actually treat him respectfully and not hiss at him in the first meeting. He stared Jenny down, from her long pink hair, the jewels encrusting her cuffs, helmet, and armour, but mostly, he stared at her armour-clad breasts.

How odd it felt to be on a ship where the captain was not also the pilot. Zapp Brannigan was the captain of the Nimbus, but then again, the Nimbus was a real space vessel while the Planet Express ship was just a delivery ship, nothing fancy. Perhaps it had something to do with the budget of the company. Already, Fry was beginning to miss his friends and former crew members dimension. Leela. Hermes. Bender. Amy. Even Zoidberg...

Yet it appeared he was stuck in this world. But for how long? And would he even be missed back on Earth? Certainly not by the professor!

"Hey wait a minute!" he said. Something had just occurred to him. "If you're the pilot of this ship, then who was flying the ship just earlier when you found me?"

"The ship was on Auto-pilot," said Jenny.

"Auto-pilot?" asked Fry, confused. He immediately regretted saying those words, afraid that she would mock him or patronize his intelligence as Bucky had.

"It means simply," she replied, "that this ship can fly itself without a pilot. But you still have to be careful that you don't fly into an asteroid. After all, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line."

He breathed a sigh of relief. "That makes more sense to me now. So where exactly were you and the others going before I showed up?"

"We had to change plans once we realized you were on board instead of Willy," said Jenny. "Originally, we were going to the Divordium moon for our mission, but now that you're here, we must first determine exactly who you are and whether you can be trusted or not. If Willy fails to show up and join us, we may have no choice but to recruit you for this mission."

"Me? Mission?" asked Fry. At that moment, Fry feels a twinge of excitement begin to build up within him. Perhaps this was the chance he had been waiting for. A chance to be a real space hero! Like Zapp Brannigan! Like Kif Kroker! Like the hero in Space Ace Valkyrie!

A round sphere larger than the stars appeared in the distance. It looked like a small planet.

"What's that?" he asked pointing ahead.

"That's Alderbaran," said Jenny. "My homeworld." She reached up a pressed a button on the ceiling above. "Bucky, we're approaching planet Alderbaran. Stand by for touchdown."

"Roger that Jenny," Bucky's voice is heard.

The planet Alderbaran comes into view and Fry can do nothing but sit still as the Righteous Indignation enters the atmosphere, descending towards the surface. Outside, Fry sees a beautiful civilization of lush gardens, trees, and a grand palace all beneath a pink sky.

Once the ship touches down on the ground in the courtyard outside the palace, Jenny rises from her seat. "Come along Fry," she said. "I'll leave the interrogations to others."

"What about you?" asked Fry as he rose from his seat.

"I must speak with the High-Artificer about my mission."

"By yourself?" He suddenly smirks. "What exactly are you trying to hide from us?"

"I am sorry," said Jenny, "but outsiders are normally forbidden to set foot upon this planet."

"And why is that?" asked Fry, his curiousity aroused.

"Nevermind about that," said Jenny. "Now get going. And stay on board the ship."

He follows her outside the cockpit of the ship, climbing down the ladder back into the area where he first entered this strange universe. He watches as the hatch opens on the side of the ship and she steps outside into a lush courtyard. The hatch closes behind her before he gets a much better view of the planet.